Malay Magic

206 VEGETATION CHARMS

206 VEGETATION CHARMS CHAP. theatrical players (prang mayong] of Penang. The invocations addressed to this spirit show that, as in most branches of magic, every part of the tree had its "alias." Thus the root was called the appropriate "Seated Prince," the trunk the "Standing Prince," the bark the " Prince Stretching Himself," the boughs the " Stabbing Prince," the leaves the " Beckoning Prince," the fruit the " Prince loosing an arrow." The Eagle-wood Tree The following account of Eagle-wood and of the tree which produces it is quoted from the Journal of the Straits Asiatic Society : "In Crawfurd's Dictionary of the Malay Archipelago 1 I find the following: 'Agila, the Eagle- wood of commerce. Its name in Malay and Javanese is kalambak or kalambah, but it is also known in these languages by that oigkaru or kayu gharu, gharu-wood, a corruption of the Sanskrit agahru. . . . There can be no doubt but that the perfumed wood is the result of disease in the tree that yields it, produced by the thickening of the sap into a gum or resin.' "This 'Eagle-wood of commerce,' under its more familiar name gkaru, is one of the rarest and most and the valuable products of our Malayan jungles, following notes may be of interest. They are the result of inquiries amongst the Malays and Pawangs in Ulu Muar and Johbl, and I am indebted to Mr. L. J. Cazalas for much assistance in obtaining the information contained in them. " The g/iaru-tree is a tall forest tree, sometimes reaching the size of fifteen feet in diameter. The bark is of a silvery gray colour, and the foliage close and 1 Correctly, Descriptive Dictionary of the Indian Islands and Adjacent Countries.

EAGLE WOOD 207 dense, of a dark hue. The Malay name for the tree is " tabak" and no other maybe used by the Pawang when in search of the kayugharu? Gharu, the diseased heart-wood of the tabak, is found in trees of all sizes, even in trees of one foot in diameter, thus showing that the disease attacks the tree at an early stage. " "^^gharu is found in pockets, and may sometimes be discovered by the veins which run to these pockets. In other trees the veins are absent, which renders the process of searching more difficult. The tree is generally cut down and left to rot, which exposes the gharu in about six months. "'Pockets' are found to contain as much as 104 catties ; a single tree has been known to yield 400 catties. 2 Gharu is seldom found in the sap-wood, in generally the heart-wood or teras. "Many ta